en-us Fri, 23 May 2008 14:46:53 -0400 Your will is stronger than your emotions. Instead of living by how you feel, live by what you know. Let me remind you that God is in control, He has a great plan for your life, and His power is greater than any other power. When you begin to have negative or discouraging feelings, shake them off. Even when you do not feel like it, choose to rule over that negative feeling anyway. Tell yourself: I'm going to be steady, immovable, and full of joy regardless of my circumstances. The more you do so, the easier it will become. Today, decide to be a more stable person and begin enjoying life - all of it! Joel Osteen Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:01:58 -0400 143142 2006-09-08 06:00:00 Joel Osteen Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:00:09 -0400 216310 Pastor Joel Osteen and Lakewood Church Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:00:08 -0400185161 http://www.lakewood.cc God wants you to burn up without burning out through supernatural living. Acts 1:8 says, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses." When you begin to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit, you're character will become more like Jesus' character. You'll talk like Him, think like Him, and act like Him. Let your life be changed by His consuming fire and live the life God always intended for you to live. Marcos Witt Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:00:02 -0400 587790 A little over two thousand years ago they crucified Jesus on the cross, buried Him in a grave and thought that was the end of it. But, on the third day He arose and said, "Because I live, you will live also." Jesus was not just talking about breathing and merely existing. He was talking about living an abundant life. Not a barely get by life or a life filled with bad habits, addictions, lack and mediocrity. Because of the price He paid, we can live a life of victory. Some people are living with things that are far less than God's best. Let me encourage you today to draw the line in the sand and say, "That's it. This is a new day. I'm going to take hold of everything Christ died and rose again to accomplish." Make up your mind not to settle for partial victory. Rise up and have faith! As you do, God will help you overcome any obstacle standing in your way. Joel Osteen Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:59:59 -0400 609914 http://www.lakewood.cc Too many people are sitting on the sidelines of life with no enthusiasm towards their future because they have made mistakes and experienced some setbacks. But, God is not looking for perfect people. If He were, we would all be disqualified. God is looking for people that have a heart that's right toward Him. If you have a heart that is seeking God and you wake up each day striving to do your best, then you do not have to live guilty and condemned. When those old thoughts come to mind saying, \"You don't deserve God's blessings,\" just respond with, \"You're exactly right. I know I don't deserve it, but that's what God's mercy is all about.\" The goodness of God will make miracles out of all your mistakes. Joel Osteen Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:59:57 -0400 587789 http://www.joelosteen.com When God places dreams and desires in your heart, He also begins lining up the people you need to help bring those dreams to pass. In Acts 9, God supernaturally turned the apostle Paul’s life around and gave him a message to share with others. But, because of his past, nobody would have anything to do with him. God brought Barnabas across Paul’s path and they developed a friendship. When Barnabas spread the news that Paul should be trusted, people began to accept him and listen to his message. Paul went on to spread the Good News of the Gospel throughout the world and He wrote half the New Testament. God knows who you need to know. Begin to believe that He is in control. He will place the right people in your life at the right time. He will give you divine connections. Joel Osteen Thu, 05 Jun 2008 14:51:00 -0400 539833 Too often we expect the people in our lives to perform perfectly, to never disappoint us and to always be there for us. But no one is perfect and those are unrealistic expectations. There is no such thing as the perfect spouse, boss or friend. No matter how much others love you or how good they are, at some point, they are going to disappoint you or hurt your feelings. Instead of becoming resentful or bitter when others do not measure up, give them grace and understand that it is simply a part of life. Romans 12:16 says that we need to \"adapt and adjust in order to keep the peace.\" If you'll have the right expectations in your relationships and give others mercy, your relationships will begin to grow and God will honor you for doing your part. Joel Osteen Thu, 05 Jun 2008 14:50:56 -0400 533503 http://www.joelosteen.com Success is not accidental. You don’t accidentally have good relationships. You don’t accidentally accomplish your dreams. You won’t accidentally lose twenty pounds. If you’re going to get to your desired destination, you have to know where you are going and how to get there. You have to have a plan. What are you doing to bring your dreams to pass? Are you getting prepared? Do you have clear direction? Are you taking steps of faith? Success is intentional. You may not know what steps to take right now, but God knows the plan, and if you’ll do your part to seek Him and begin to make plans to succeed, God will guide you. It says in the scriptures, “The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” You don’t have to vaguely go through life. God wants to direct your steps. He wants to show you His plan. Decide today to make plans to succeed. Write down your goals. Make time to evaluate where you are in life. Evaluate your finances, your career and your relationships. Don’t go another week without having a plan for your future. Evaluate how you're spending your time and money. If you’ll go beyond dreaming, and start making plans to succeed, God promises He’s going to direct your steps. He will lead you down the path of His favor. He’ll lead you into increase. He’ll lead you into promotion, and you’re going to see your dreams come to pass and walk in success in every area of your life! Joel Osteen Thu, 05 Jun 2008 14:48:46 -0400 1028565 The words respect, honor, duty, integrity - we don't hear them much anymore. The Bible says, "He who pursues righteousness and loyalty finds life." We need to learn to be loyal to our spouse, to our family, our friends and even to our country. When we honor them with our loyalty, God will honor and bless us. Joel Osteen Thu, 05 Jun 2008 14:46:14 -0400 457192 We all have good intentions. We may want to give up an addiction, a bad attitude or being impatient and do what we know is right. But, it's not enough to simply have the desire to do something. Matthew 26:41 says, \"The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Pray that you don't come into the temptation.\" One of the keys to controlling your weaknesses and overcoming temptations is to learn to pray so that you will become strong in your weakest areas. Ask God to help you with your temper, your thought life and your relationships with others. If you do, God will give you the strength you need to overcome any obstacle! Joel Osteen Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:18:21 -0400 479942 God has given you the potential for greatness. When life is unfair and pushes you down, you have to get back up, brush yourself off and let the past be the past. Then you can give new life to the dreams God has put in your heart. Joel Osteen Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:18:18 -0400 471782 Are there people in your life that you just can't make happy? You are not responsible for other people's happiness. While we should be givers, we shouldn't allow others to control us. Learn to set boundaries in your relationships so you can be all that God intended you to be. Joel Osteen Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:18:18 -0400 422261 God is interested in every area of your life. Not just the big things, but the smaller things as well. God wants to help you be more productive at the office, help you raise your children, give you favor with your clients and protect you on the freeway. The key is that God will only be involved in as much of your life as you allow Him to be involved in. Proverbs 3:6 says to "...acknowledge God in all your ways." If you do this, then He will guide and direct your path. Joel Osteen Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:18:08 -0400 443023 http://www.joelosteen.com The Scripture says in Psalm 24, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.” God wants us to live a full life�'a life where we’re continually exploring new things, new hobbies, new cultures, new personalities, and new ways of thinking. It’s easy to get stuck in a rut to doing the same thing again and again�'eating the same foods, listening to the same music, hanging around the same type of people. If we’re not careful life can become very narrow. The reason many people have lost their enthusiasm and excitement for each day is because they are underexposed. They won’t try anything new. They won’t go anywhere different. There’s no freshness to their life. But when you get outside of your community, when you get outside your culture you open the door for God to reveal Himself to you in a fresh, new way. When you get around people that are not just like you: people that don’t have your sense of humor, people that have different interests, people that grew up in another environment, people that don’t have your same skin color, it makes your life broader. New experiences make your life richer, fuller, and more enjoyable. When you open yourself to new things, you open the door for God to bring you new opportunities, and you open yourself to enjoy the full life the Lord has prepared for you. Joel Osteen Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:18:01 -0400 1183422 http://www.joelosteen.com Joel Osteen Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:18:00 -0400 1196638 How you begin your day usually determines the kind of day you experience. If you begin your day in a hurry, rushing from one task to another or stressed out, often you will become uptight and stay on the edge the rest of the day. In the Bible, David says, \"Early in the morning, my song will rise to You.\" If you're going to be your best and live life to the full, then God needs to receive the first part of your day. Before the stress and busyness comes, before you read the newspaper and before you think about all you have to do, take time to thank God for His goodness. Read the Scriptures, meditate on His promises and speak words of victory over your life. When you do this, you're giving God your first fruits and he'll walk with you the rest of the day! Joel Osteen Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:17:52 -0400 497021 http://www.joelosteen.com God has already released good things into your future. When God laid out the plan for your life, He lined up the right people, the right circumstances, and the right breaks. In your future, He's already released favor, supernatural opportunities, and divine connections. The breaks you need in life have already been preordained to come across your path. If you will stay in faith and go out each day and be a person of excellence, you'll walk into these appointments of favor. It will be just as if you stumbled into God's blessings! When you really understand this principal, you'll begin to get excited about every sing day! You'll have a spring in your step as you think about what blessing is coming next! It could be today. It could be tomorrow. It could be next week. Keep expecting. Keep believing. Stay focused on the fact that God has already released into your future everything you need to fulfill your destiny. Start declaring seasons of increase over your life. Declare that the favor is on you and opportunities are coming. As you do, you'll move forward into the favor and blessing God has ordered for you! Joel Osteen Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:17:29 -0400 843390 http://www.joelosteen.com Everyone has times in life when they receive criticism from others. Someone may be talking about you, trying to make you look bad or blowing things out of proportion. Don’t sink down to their level, become defensive and try to prove that you are right and they are wrong. When you encounter criticism, shake it off and let it go. This is what Jesus told his disciples. He sent them out to different towns to teach people and care for their needs, but Jesus knew they would suffer rejection. In Matthew 10:14, Jesus said, “When you go into a town, whoever will not receive and welcome your message, when you leave that place, shake the dust off of your feet.” In other words, let God be your vindicator. Everyone will not understand you or accept you so just run your race and stay focused on what God has called you to do. Joel Osteen Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:17:26 -0400 520582 http://www.joelosteen.com God desires that you be so blessed that you can turn around and be a blessing everywhere you go! He wants you to have so much peace, so much joy, so much victory that when other people get around you it spills over onto them! In the book of Psalms, David said, “My cup runs over.” He was overflowing with the anointing�'the tangible, effective power of God. Too many people today have a barely-get-by-mentality. They settle for thoughts like, “I can barely pay my bills…I have an okay job…I have an okay marriage.” But Jesus came so we can live an abundant life! That means an abundance of joy, an abundance of peace, an abundance of health, an abundance of finances. You may not see it right now, and maybe you haven’t experienced it in the past, but don’t get complacent and just settle for where you are. Get a vision for your future! Get a vision for increase! Get a vision for Abundance! Psalm 35:27 says, “Let them say continually, ‘Let the Lord be magnified Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His children.’” God delights to see you prosperous and successful. When you choose to think God’s thoughts and choose God’s way, you’ll see that increase and victory in every area of your life. Now is the time to move forward and live the abundant life God has planned for you! Joel Osteen Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:17:25 -0400 864972 You and God are a majority! Instead of looking at what you cannot do, begin to look at what God can do. All Moses had was a rod and God used it to part the Red Sea. All David had was a slingshot and God used it to defeat Goliath. All one little boy had was a fish and a few loaves of bread and God used it to feed thousands. When we come to the end of our natural ability, that's when God's supernatural ability kicks in. Take your eyes of your circumstances and focus on the One that can turn everything around. If you want to see God take you to places you've never dreamed of and if you want to see him work supernaturally in your life, then you need to step out of your comfort zone. Dare to take a step of faith and follow God where He is leading you. Joel Osteen Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:16:49 -0400 199459